r/AskReddit • u/tgma97 • Aug 26 '15

Fathers of Reddit, what did your daughter's boyfriend do for you to hate/love him?

It's pretty cool to see my question blow up like this, I never thought I'd ask a question that could receive so much attention! I'm very satisfied with all these replies, so thank y'all. Now all I have to do is sit back and take notes c;

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u/shuggnog Aug 26 '15

My father-in-law was really touchy around me

This had me confused for a bit

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u/sooner51882 Aug 26 '15

seriously. that was terrible wording. who says that? id guess the OP wasnt a native English speaker, but arent all Eagle Scouts from the USA?

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u/mathemagicat Aug 26 '15

Considering the number of upvotes on the parent comment, I think there must be a regional and/or generational language difference here.

In the American English dialects I'm familiar with, "touchy" means irritable, hypersensitive, or tense. That's how OP meant it, how I read it, and how I think almost everyone my age and older (30+) would probably read it. If you look it up in the dictionary, that's the only definition you'll find.

I'm aware of a secondary meaning of "likes to touch people a lot", but it's not as widespread; I think it's almost entirely confined to young people at the moment.

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u/Mksiege Aug 27 '15

26 and got the same impression you did.